A Plea to Retailers for More Humanity

Black Friday weekend was, by standard measures, a huge success this year.  According to a survey conducted for the National Retail Federation by BigResearch, the number of shoppers and the spending per customer both increased over last year, each by more than nine percent.  The stock market’s reaction this morning is a euphoric, due in part to the positive outlook for retailer’s holiday season.  More positive statistics are expected on this Cyber Monday start to Cyber Week. 

Despite the good economic news, I am left feeling discomfited.  Shoppers were encouraged to come out as early as Thanksgiving night, abandoning the home fires before the dinner dishes were even washed.  Many retailers opened at midnight early on Friday, offering deals with limited availability that caused customers to camp outside the doors to be first in line.  We saw video of overexcited shoppers stampeding into stores.  The news highlighted the shocking tale of a woman spraying her shopping competition with pepper spray.  She reportedly had two children with her.  In other headlines, a man was shot while resisting a parking lot robbery.  He was protecting his purchases.  In Arizona, a 54-year old man put a video game under his shirt in a store, to protect it from being wrestled away by other shoppers.  He was reported as a shoplifter, thrown to the ground by police, bloodied in the process, handcuffed and arrested – all in view of his young grandson.  He has since been released from custody, and the legal finger-pointing has just begun.

We, the people, have allowed retailers’ marketing hype to draw us from our warm beds on a holiday night into the darkness and hysteria.  We willingly put our lives and safety in jeopardy, to beat others to the deals.  We are eager to elbow our neighbors and snatch goods from their hands, to rack up charges on credit to provide gifts that commemorate high religious holidays.  Ironically, surveys show that about 44% of the people out shopping on Black Friday this year were buying goods for themselves – not gifts for others.  My personal disgust with all this keeps me at home on Black Friday.  I do not argue others’ prerogative to enter the fray.

My plea for responsible humanity is to the retailers.  Find another way to market deeply discounted items available on a limited basis.  Retract grossly extended hours of operation that lure people into the night.  Eliminate the blatant and negligent disregard for the safety and security of your customers and employees.  Use your creativity to come up with a new approach.  Perhaps instead of encouraging shoppers to trample each other to be the first to the big screen HDTV’s, you could conduct a lottery drawing, and provide free home delivery for the winners.  Orchestrate interactive events within the store that would draw customers throughout the day - not just for the frantic crush at the ungodly opening hour.  One bright spot in trends is that online purchases continue to grow in percentage of total sales.

The term “Black Friday” used to refer to the time of year when retailer’s financials went from red ink losses into the black (profit).  With each year, the term is earning a more sinister connotation.  Black Friday norms need to be re-imagined.  Which retailers will lead the way to a kinder, gentler holiday shopping season?